Carennac - Saint-Pierre

Carennac is a very picturesque village perching above the banks of the Dordogne river. The village is one of "Les Plus Beaux Villages de Franc". Not much seems to have changed within the last centuries.

In 1047 a priory had been founded here, depending from the Benedictine abbey Saint-Pierre in Moissac and so woven into the "cluniac system".
Saint-Pierre, now the parish church of Carennac, was erected within the 11th/12th century. An impressive tympanum was created in the second half of the 12th century.

The tympanum depicts Christ in Majesty in the centre of a large mandorla. On either side are the Apostles, grouped pairs. (See previous uploads)

Here are four of these apostles. The seem to communicate and are gesticulating. The apostles are very elaborately carved and are seated on individual thrones.